Electrically-operated system of and apparatus for automatic signaling on railways.



E. W. BOTTLE.

ELECTRICALLY OPERATED SYSTEM AOF AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATIC SIGNALING ON RAILWAYS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 31, I9I.4.

THE NORRIS PETERS C0., FHOTC-LITHO, WASHINGTON. D. C.

UNITE@ STATES PATENT EEIQE.

EDWARD WHITTAKER BOTTLE, OF LONDON',y ENGLAND.

ELECTRICALLY-OPER-'ATED `SYS'IEM OF SAND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATIC SIGNALING ON RAILWAYS.

To all whom t may concern Be itknown that I, EDWARD WHITTAxnR BOTTLE', a subject of His Majesty the King of Great Britain, residing at 9 Binden road, Ravenscourt Park, London, W., England, schoolmaster, have inventedl a certain new or Improved Electrically-0perated System of and Apparatus for Automatic Signaling on Railways; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descrip- 'also causing the discharging of a similar contact conductor or bar in the section or block behind that last referred to. U

My invention comprehends a new or improved arrangement of circuit-s and switches for charging and discharging the contact bars or ramps and for announcing tothe district signalman whether the system' is working properly, he being thereby incidentally shown the position of all trains in his district. Current is supplied to all circuits from an electric main alongside the track thereturn being via the track rail. l p' According to my invention each track section comprises a track switch and a short insulated rail or ramp both just within the entrance of the section. The charging and dischargingof each ramp is controlled by a two way switch operated in reverse directions by two solenoids or electromagnets. That solenoid which when excited moves the ramp switch to charge the ramp I call the charging solenoid, the other whose excitation moves thev ramp switch to cause the ramp to be discharged I will refer to as the discharging solenoid. The track switch requires no resetting being only momentarily closed by the pressure of the 'engine wheel against spring resistance and returning yto its normal open position directly the pressure is removed. When thus momentarily closed it momentarily completes an electric circuit inwhich is included the charging Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 25, 1915.

Application led October 31, 1914. Serial No. 869,526.

when the train enters any section the ramp of the section next behind is charged and that of the section in the rear of this discharged. rIhe closing of any track switch also completes a circuit in which an electrically operated indicating device in the signal cabin is included. This last circuit would preferably be constituted by the ramp charging circuit, the solenoids or magnets for operating said indicating devices being included in the ramp charging circuits.

The preferred means for automatically announcing in the signal cabin that the apparatus is in proper working order and for indicating the position of all trains in the indicating board preferably white, having a plan of the district, showing all Vthe sections, cut in slits, stencil-wise, therein. Each stencil cut or slit represents a track section, and behind each cut is a movable indicating member, such as a card partly colored red, the remainder being white, or the same color as the board. Each movable indicating member is adapted to be moved by an electromagnet placed in a branch circuit controlled by the track switch of the section with which it corresponds. When this branch circuit is closed the magnet is energized and moves the movable indicating member so as to exhibit its red portion through the slit corresponding with the section, thus showing the signalman that this section is occupied.` When the magnet or solenoid is denergized again, the movable indicating member is returned by any suitable vmeans to the normal position, showing white through the slit of thev white indicatingboard, thus indicating to the signalvsignalmans district, would comprise a. lixed man vthat the section is empty. The mov- V 'it' switch in ysectlon ramp 1n r"SefflQll II the branch circuit aforesaid. If desired in lieu of movable indicating members, lamps may be placed behind the apertures in the board and lighted or extinguished by -ob-l vious. modifications. 1

I will now describe the manner of per-V forming my invention having reference to the annexed drawings wherein shows diagr'ammatically methcd of operatingv thevr indicators in the signal cabin,j and Fig# 4' Shows* diaelsuaat'allr Suitable means for' 'letreallr Qnafihg .the engine y' Referring toFig. 1` s:V indicates, a track and "RI a ramp-in 'section 'Il're switch arm a of each ramp switch is adapted to be moved 1in oppositefdirections, vso as to make contact lwith"either ofj two lxed contacts o or of', by means' offtwo soleno'idsm m". I will designada the @llagas,s 1.ein ony and m. h "'shfie'g SQTGQ@ Whlif the 'wheel of' airain travelhgfltc the. left'. Passes over' the switch s 'it momentarily passes it and so earths tothe track rail' a current nmrrirlis 'ffOI-th mn Conductor, by Way ofthe -wire wythe discharging solenoid m ramp Y`Sw"RS?, "and the." Charging scema m "of americans@ nismo.- hhtry'lrrenf Cailels Ch1lfe`.I1s.,S.Olrigidi. m t@ pllve'the rd 0f ramnSivtQh'RSf htooriat Wthibe xed fontat. e" tha@- by casigf Current 'from' 'the main t0 flQw throughv wire inf* switch 'arm 'at andv wirey en and chargefwthe y rvSiimultaneously the arm tofl rampswitch, islpulled' over into contact with? xed'co'ntact c its dis# charging solenoidY A"thei'eby connecting ramp'R with the track railfthrough wire wswi'tchfarm a Aand wire w3 land thiis discharging said" ramp, The discharging contact onf-"switch arms afshculdbefmomentary only and this mei-he @if'd' .by a Spring', indicated by 6,at'tachedjtovthe arm Vajwhere-, by Sad arm Willv1 be instantly brought 'away from contact `,for' by other suitable means. So long as the train is in section 1J, the ramp It of section I I' remains "chargevl, when a` following train, arrives at section II this charged ramp will cause the engine alarm to be sounded and warn the driver to stop. When the rst'train enters the section ahead off section I'vand operates the track switch thereof, ramp R will becaused to discharge to the' rail as described withy reference to ramp R".

vSignal cabin indication is shown inl the drawings as' effected as follows :'-From the rampR'a Wire w* badate a Solana@ m2 noid m3 kwhose function is to oppositely move or operate the adjacent indicator which corresponds with section II, vso that when solenoid m2 operates its indicator to show section I is occupied,l solenoid m3 will operate' the adjacent indicator to show section is'clear. Froml solenoid m3 the circuit to earth isv completed throughthe bar B on thel cabin board and wire w. Fig. 3 shows indicators 1 consisting of lpartly-colored cards suspended yby cords from rollers la, s

behind whichthese cards are moved by partial rotation of the rollers, here shown as effected by passing over each roller a cord having an armature 7l vsuspended from each aoV vindicating the slots in the indicating board' end, one armature being that of the 0perating solenoid m2 of the indicator and the other thatof the supplementary solenoid m? inthe operating circuit of the preceding indicator. The solenoids m2 m3 should either be of high resistance, or preferably their armatures should be adapted to automatically make and break the circuit in any suitable manner so as to make the indicating circuit momentaryv and thus prevent leakage of lcurrent from the ramps. For example the armature i moving downward may force cpen a spring contact 015 Fig. 3 and thus break the circuit.

A portion of each indicating circuit consists ofa movable but normally fixedVV connecico tion'f- (Fig. l) having a plug p. This latter can be detached'froml the indicating circuit andinserted in one of a series of holes, each corresponding with a ramp, in a brass bar or f conductor B provided on the indicating board andconnected with the main by the wire w. 'Ihis arrangement is provided so that in an emergency the signalman may be able to charge any desired ramp from his box, by inserting a plug p inthe proper hole should the proper working of the system fail from any Gaus@- A suitable construction of track switch isl illustrated iny Fig. 2, the same comprising a'socketed base and a plug movable vertically therein, both being of pottery or other' suitable insulating material and marked 7025.? The said base is fitted with the female brass contact member d and the plug with the male brass contact member el sp indicate springs for separating the contact members.` The upper or male com, tact member may be formed as shown to prQYd@ a Protective @an b1.' fer Vthe device,

orfa rubber or like `washer may be substituted and surround the external annular gap between the base and plug.

VThe ramp switches may be of any suitable construction provided they are vadapted to give a continuous contact inone direction and a momentary one in the other.

Fig. 4l shows a convenient arrangement of electrically operated engine alarm. counterweighted armature adapted to act as a detent to the ratchet wheel o which controls a clockworkalarm bell. When the solenoid m4 is energized the armature is drawn down and releases the bell mechanism. The solenoid m4 takes current from the charged ramp through the scraper sc, the insulated rod 1' on which the latter is pivotally carried, and the wire 107, the current being earthed through the wire w70 and engine frame. t is a spring for insuring close contact between the scraper and ramp, and 1""Y indicates an insulating sleeve around rod 1". Any other suitable device for picking up current from a charged ramp and causing such current to start or sound an alarm may be substituted.

The ramps, which as shown lie between the rails and are properly insulated, should incline downwardly at their ends to decrease shock when contact is made. If theengine carries a brush or wheel contact the ramps would be of the well known iiat topped straight type if, however, the engine carries a scraper, such for example as illustrated, then the ramps would resemble an inverted V in transverse section and would further have a longitudinal curvature as shown in F ig. 1. This ridged formation throws o rain, snow and the like, assists to keep the insulators dry, and being narrow is not liable to become coated with ice, which in any case the pressure of the scraper would remove. The longitudinal curvature distributes the wear and tear over the entire breadth of the scraper and prevents its edge from becoming grooved or scored.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is.:-

1. A railway signaling system divided into a series of blocks or stations; a source of electric current for said stations; each of said stations including a ramp rail, a switch movable in reverse directions and connected to said ramp rail, a pair of oppositely disposed electromagnetic means for f actuating said switch, and a track-switch;

and means electrically connecting said trackswitch with alternate members of the pairs of said electromagnetic means at each of two stations succeeding that at which said track-switch is installed whereby, when said track-switch is operated, the ramp rail in the next succeeding station will be connected with said source of current and theramp rail at the second succeeding station will z" isa the positive and negative sides of said source of current, a switch connected to said ramp rail and movable vagainst said iixed contacts, a pair of oppositely disposed electromagnetic means for actuating said switch, and a track-switch; and means electrically connecting said track-switch with alternate members of the pairs of said electromagnetic means at each of two stations succeeding that at which said track-switch is installed whereby, when said track-switch is operated, the switch at the next succeeding station will be moved against the fixed contact connected with the positive side of the source of current and the switch at the second succeeding station will be moved against the fixed contact connected with the negative side of said source of current.

3. A railway signaling system divided in a series of blocks or stations; a source of electric current for said stations, each of said stations including a ramp rail; a pair of fixed contacts connected respectively to the positive and negative sides of said source of current, a switch movable into engagement with said contacts and connected to said ramp rail, flexible means carried by said switch for immediately returning the latter to neutral position after making contact with the contact connected to the negative side of said source of current, oppositely disposed solenoids adapted to move said switch against said contacts, and a trackswitch; and means electrically connecting said track-switch with alternate solenoids at two stations succeeding that at which the track-switch is installed whereby, when said track-switch is operated, the switch at the first succeeding station will be moved against the contact connected with the positive side of said source of current to electrically charge the ramp rail at said station and the switch at the second succeeding station will be momentarily moved against the contact connected with the negative side of said source of current whereby the ramp rail at that station will be electrically discharged.

l. A'railway signaling system divided into a series of blocks or stations; a source of electric current for said stations, each of said stations including a ramp rail, aswitch connected to said ramp rail, oppositely disposed xed contacts against which said switch may be moved and which contacts are connected respectively to the positive and negative sides of said source of current, a pair of solenoids at opposite sides of said switch for moving the same into vengagement with said contacts, and a spring returned track-switch adjacent the railway tracks; and means electrically connecting the said track-switch with alternate solenoids of each of the pairs of solencids at two stations succeeding that at which the track-switch is installed whereby,'when the track-switch is operated by a passingy vehicle, the switch at the iirst succeeding station will be moved to connect the ramp rail with the positive side oit' the source of current and the switch at the secondv succeeding station will be moved to disconnect the ramp rail of that stationfrom the positiveY is installed whereby, when said track-switch is operated, the ramp rail in the next succeeding station will be connected with said source of current and the ramp rail at the second succeeding station will be disconnect- Ved from said source of current, and electrically operated means connected to the ramp mus for mantengan condition" of the blocks in said system.

6. A railway Ysignaling system Yfdivided 'Y into a series of blccksor stationsa source of electric current for said stations; each of said stations including a ramp rail, aA switchV movable 1n reverse directions and connected torsaid ramp rail, a pair of oppositely dis- Y said switch, and a track-switch; means electrically connecting said track-switchV with alternate members ofthe pairs of said electromagnetic means ateacli Yof two stations Vposed electromagnetic means Yfor actuating succeeding that at which said track-switch Y is installed whereby, when said track-switch is operated, the ramp rail in the neXt succeeding station will'be connected with said source of current'and the ramp rail at the Vsecond succeeding station will be disconnected from said source of current, and elec- 'trically operated means connected to the ramp rails for indicating the condition of the blocks insaid system, said last named means including an apertured board, indi# eating means movable relatively thereto, and electromagnetic means for moving said indicating means in relation to said board.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses.

EDWARD WHITTAKER BOTTLE.

Witnesses HERBERT D. JAMESON, O. J. WORTH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained lfor five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

